


...And those Connections

by GrumpyJenn



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 21:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3148958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyJenn/pseuds/GrumpyJenn





	...And those Connections

There was something wrong with one of her Librarians in Training.

Eve could feel it.

She wasn’t sure which of them, and they were all physically safe at the moment, holed up in the Annex for the night, but there was definitely something wrong.

So she went looking, and as she rounded a corner of a shelf she stopped.

Because there was Cassandra, huddled up in a little ball on the floor, quietly weeping.

Eve started to go to her, find out what was wrong, but she felt a hand on her shoulder. She tensed just slightly, then relaxed as she realized it was Stone. “I got this,” he murmured in her ear, and Eve nodded and backed off. Because if anyone could find out what was bothering Cassandra, it was Jacob Stone; there was some kind of connection there. A connection that meant he could talk Cassie through her spells, guide her toward what they needed her to do.

So she gave him a short nod and went back to her room, the feeling of something-is-wrong-with-my-charges slowly fading.

 

~~~~~

 

“Cass?” Jake approached slowly; he didn’t know yet whether this was regular girl-tears or Cassie-in-a-math-spell-tears, and he didn’t want to hurt her either way.

She stopped crying, but she didn’t bring her head up from where it rested on her drawn-up knees. And she didn’t say anything.

Jake crouched down next to her. “Come on, honey, what’s wrong? You hurt?”

Cassandra shook her head without looking up.

“Okay, then,” Jake said. He sighed and stood up, drawing her to her feet. “Come here.” He sat down in a big soft chair that the Annex thoughtfully provided, and tugged on Cassie’s hand until she sat down next to him, snuggled against his side with one of his arms around her shoulders. “Tell me what’s wrong, Cass.”

“I did it again,” she said, so quietly he almost didn’t hear.

 _Did what again_ , he wondered, and then he got it. Damn.

“It wasn’t you, Cassie. It was the Apple. You know that.”

“Doesn’t matter.” She said it in such a dull and hopeless tone that it made Jake’s heart hurt.

“Of course it matters, sweetheart. We all got tagged with it, and—“

“—And you just shouted about some paintings and I tried to destroy a city,” she interrupted with some bitterness.

“That’s ‘cause you’re sweeter than me. You got farther to go to be your worst self,” Jake said, and he could hear his own accent thickening, as it did when there was emotion involved.

“I…” Cassandra began, then stopped and took a deep breath. “You don’t trust me. You _shouldn’t_ trust me, not after what I did. Both times. Why would you care?”

 _Oh, honey, if you only knew_. It was Jake’s turn to take that deep breath. Because on one level she was right; he didn’t trust her. Not completely. But in other ways he did, and he _liked_ her, and there was a… a connection there. He had to say this exactly right, the first time, or she wouldn’t believe him and it would all be a big mess. A bigger mess.

“You’re right,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t. At least not all the way.” He put one finger under her chin and tilted her face up so he could look into those blue, blue eyes , and _make_ her understand. “But I do care, Cass. A lot.” _More’n I should, probably,_ he thought.

Cassandra blinked, and then the smile came out and lit up her face. Jake knew she understood. He might not be able to trust her, not with everything.

But he could trust her with the knowledge that he cared.

Maybe more than he should.


End file.
